Disclaimer: Not mine

I have decided on the eventual pairing for Bella, that doesn't mean they will get together from the start.

Chapter 4

Alice grinned as she spotted the girls truck pulling in. She grabbed Jasper's hand and pulled him along before being hit by his broadcast confusion and wariness.

"Alice?"

"Trust me," she tossed him a smile before stopping beside the truck as it was turned off and then Bella Swan dropped down.

"Oh, um, hi?" Bell looked between the two, unsure, especially after how their brother had acted in class yesterday.

"Hi Bella, I'm Alice and this is Jasper," Alice quickly introduced them with a smile.

"Hi, nice to meet you," she offered, unable to keep from smiling at the other girl, she was just so…bouncy. She had to look up to see Jasper, all the men in the family seemed to be tall.

"Sorry about Alice," Jasper offered, and Bella caught just the hint of an accent.

"Anyway, Edward asked us to pass on his apologies for how yesterday must have looked. He would have himself, but he flew out last night. He has a big audition for Juilliard, between that and some issues he's been having with Biology…well, when he realised, he felt so ashamed of himself." Alice explained happily. The last thing she wanted was for Bella to hate Edward or something. She still wasn't sure when he'd be back or if, he wasn't making any decisions. Her excuse was one the family could easily use long term to explain his absence though, if necessary.

"Oh…wow." It was a relief to hear it wasn't her that had made him so mad, especially since they hadn't spoken or anything. "I hope he gets in. what instrument does he play?"

"Piano," Alice gently herded Bella into walking with them, ignoring Rosalee's glare. "It'll be sad if he gets in since it means he'll be away for the school year, but it is such an amazing opportunity how could the family say no?"

Jasper listened, glad Alice had managed to explain away Edward's reaction to the girl. He was being very careful to only give the appearance of breathing, if her scent had driven Edward to such bloodlust there was no way he wanted to test his control near her. Her emotions made a refreshing change from most of the other students when they were near, only Angela came close. There was no envy or anything else negative from Angela towards anyone, even them, and it was very refreshing. If he trusted himself more, he may have tried to befriend the girl. Now here was another girl like Angela, one he had to keep himself in control around for Alice, she was sure Bella was important to their family and he would not jeopardise anyone's happiness. The only reason he could think of was that she was someone's mate.

"Well, thanks for explaining, it was nice to meet you both," Bella smiled and then slipped away to her first class. They seemed an odd couple to her but maybe his quietness had a calming effect on Alice? Class proved to be just as dull as the day before though she was living in dread of gym at the end of the day since she'd have to participate. At lunch she sat with the same group, listening to them talk about things she didn't know.

The days passed and she began to settle into the routine of school and living with Charlie. It was so different to what she was used to. Here she wasn't expected to handle the expenses or do all the shopping, as long as there was a list, and Charlie even made breakfast most mornings, although that seemed the limit of his culinary skills. How he'd survived so long on his own…

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Alice frowned, frustrated, too many decisions needed to be made for her visions to clear up and no one was making them! Her and Jasper speaking with Bella had helped some, but it wasn't enough. Edward needed to grow up and decide. A gentle hand rested on her shoulder and she leant back against him.

"What is it?" Jasper asked softly, feeling her frustration and just wanting to help. When she stood up, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"Hunt with me?" she asked, and he nodded, loosening his hold. She grabbed his hand and they leapt through the window, taking off deep into the woods. She quickly took down two deer and Jasper snagged the mountain lion that had been stalking them. They drained their dinner and then buried the carcasses. Instead of turning back Alice sat on a log and Jasper joined her.

"How can I help?" He asked, not liking to see her like this and she leant against him.

"So many decisions need to be made," she admitted. "Bella is going to be part of this family, one of us."

Jasper blinked, she'd said important before, he'd assumed a friend for Alice while they lived her. But one of them? How? Carlisle had explained the treaty to them when they were moving. None of them could bite a human without risking the wolves attacking, not that he was all that concerned with a bunch of overgrown dogs.

"It's so confusing…vampires have one mate, for life. But I see Bella with different people…like events and actions will change who's mate she could be."

"Maybe because she is human? Humans change and grow in ways we don't. as she changes with events, she becomes better suited for someone else? How many vampires meet their mate when that mate is still human?"

"Carlisle," she answered immediately, but he was the only one they knew of.

"Who are the options?"

"Edward, obviously. There's only a small window for them and he messes it up so many times," she shook her head. Bella and Edward could be mates, could be utterly happy together for eternity, but it all relied on Edward coming back and not being an ass or control freak. As long as he came back, she saw them together, it just wasn't always meant to be. The next option was the one she was torn over.

"Alice? What is it?" he took her hands in his. What could make her feel… "Me…I'm one of the possibilities?" he whispered, and she nodded. He was shocked, how could this be…he knew they weren't mates, had known within a few weeks but he didn't care. Alice had been the first since he had been turned to look past the red eyes and scars and see him. He hated to think what would have become of him if he hadn't walked into that diner.

It hadn't been love at first sight, he hadn't been capable of such a thing. But love had grown as she stayed by his side even when he struggled so much with the animal diet. Yes, sometimes her emotions let him know just how much his slips upset her, but she never left him. He had basked in her feelings for him and had come to return them. It had taken him years to let his barriers down with her and he still struggled with the rest of the family. When they had approached and he had seen the size of the family, coven as he had thought of them back then, he had felt fear for the first time in a long time, fear that he had followed Alice to his death. It had taken time for him to accept that he wasn't in danger, wasn't going to be used for his gift or fighting abilities. Yes, the Cullen's had been startled, even wary of him in the beginning, how could they not be once they glimpsed the marks that littered his skin? It had been Rose who had made the first deeper attempts at understanding and friendship with him and it was why he was happy to be called her twin, they were siblings in a way. Emmett had followed her lead, happy to have another guy around. His relationship with Edward had been more difficult, despite their gifts complimenting each other. Every time he was tempted…Edward knew. It had made things rocky between them, especially when he had gotten lost in memories of the wars, but he thought they had grown closer more recently.

He loved Alice, he would stay with her for eternity and now she was telling him Bella could be his mate? He didn't need a mate.

"Jasper no," she whispered, cradling his head against her chest, kissing his hair. "I love you so much, I am not throwing you aside. If Bella is your mate, I will still love you, it will just mean a change in our relationship. This isn't set in stone, I didn't want you to know you were a possibility because I don't want you subconsciously sabotaging things. There's another option if Edward messes up and it's someone we know, though not a Cullen," she tried to get his mind off thoughts of them parting. The thought of no longer being with him hurt but she had seen how happy they could be together, how close she and Bella would be.

"Who?"

"Garrett, Carlisle's old friend."

Jasper nodded, he liked Garrett. The nomad was lonely but rarely visited, a mate would do him good. From what he had seen and felt of Bella, he thought she would be able to accept Garrett although he doubted she would be alright with him continuing to feed from humans, especially if her first exposure to their kind was through the family. He looked at Alice, seeing the hesitancy. "What else pixie?" he managed a smile, wrapping his arms around her.

"The weirdest visions were of Bella….and Carlisle."

Huh…he could never have imagined that in a million years. "But Esme is his mate." A blind man could see that.

"I know. Like I said, weird." The Bella in those visions was very different to in others, older somehow. As if, she had been born in another time to be with Carlisle. Maybe it was a message to say that Bella could have been Carlisle's mate if he never met Esme? Who knew. She just knew that the pairing was even less likely than Bella and Edward which was good as far as she was concerned, it would be odd to call Bella mother and Carlisle was pretending to be almost thirty while Bella was still a teenager, that would have caused some major problems. "Don't worry about it Jasper, please. It's all so changeable, except for her joining the family. Don't let this colour your interactions with anyone but especially her."

He wasn't sure that was possible, but he would try. She smiled at him, obviously seeing that and they got up to return home.

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Edward dropped the Caribou he'd just finished draining and sat back in the snow. He hated being away from the family and it was all that girls fault. He knew what a Singer was, had seen Emmett kill two of his and had listened to Carlisle's explanations. He couldn't stop thinking about her…about her scent…the taste of her blood…he clenched his hands into fists. If he gave in he knew it would disappoint not only Carlisle, but Esme and he didn't want to hurt them. Then there was Chief Swan, he knew how excited the man had been to have his daughter home, how deep would his grief be if she died? He couldn't go back to Forks, not only was the girl in danger but if he killed her the whole family would be at risk of discovery, especially if any wolves were still around. Carlisle said they were gone, that his meeting with the Elders had made that clear but without hearing their thoughts himself he wouldn't believe it.

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"What are you doing Alice?" Rosalie demanded as she finally cornered her sister who smiled innocently at her.

"Cleaning my closet."

"You know what I mean," she snapped, crossing her arms. "She's human!"

"For now," Alice agreed, as she put aside some older clothing to go into a donation bag. She loved shopping but she also liked giving what she no longer wore to those who needed it more.

"Alice."

"Bella will be one of us, a member of this family. I've seen it. Would you deny someone their mate?" Alice stared at Rosalie, saw the small flinch.

"She should live a human life."

"Just because that's what you wanted, doesn't mean everyone does Rose. There are a lot of women who don't dream of children," she pointed out as gently as she could. "I tried seeing her future without us…there's nothing to see within a year or two." Without their intervention Bella would be dead by twenty, not married with kids. That was the only explanation for her future to vanish. "The boys outnumber us; won't it be nice when they don't?" she smiled, and Rosalie hesitated.

Rosalie was shocked, no future? How could Alice not see her future? Unless…she would die? She hated this life, what she was. But she also loved Emmett more than anything. Edward was the only single in the family, could she condemn her brother to eternity alone because of how she felt? Could she condemn this girl to a young death? "The Volturi…"

"There's no reason for them to hear about her and if they did we could simply explain that we are waiting until graduation when she can vanish without people looking so much." She wasn't sure that would work but she didn't see them finding out until after Bella was one of them.

"Fine," Rosalie left her to her cleaning.

TBC…